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You are here: Home / Civil Rights / Racial Justice / #BLM #M4BL / Sunday Morning Open Thread: Reports from Netroots Nation 2016

Sunday Morning Open Thread: Reports from Netroots Nation 2016

by Anne Laurie|  July 17, 20165:27 am| 168 Comments

This post is in: #BLM #M4BL, Don't Mourn, Organize, Open Threads, Proud to Be A Democrat, Daydream Believers

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Here's why #NN16 — in 11 years of existence, never a hotbed of Hillary support — applauded her. https://t.co/ULiRHqyDCj

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) July 16, 2016

No garden pics this week — guess everybody’s too busy working outside and/or melted down into puddles of mulch-enriched sweat — so here’s a different form of uplift. From that Washington Post article:

ST. LOUIS — Hillary Clinton will call for a constitutional amendment to “overturn Citizens United” in her first 30 days as president and plans to make that announcement today to progressive activists at the annual Netroots Nation conference.

“I will also appoint Supreme Court justices who understand that this decision was a disaster for our democracy,” Clinton will say in a video message, scheduled to run near the end of today’s final keynote session. “I will fight for other progressive reforms, including small-dollar matching and disclosure requirements. I hope some of the brilliant minds in this room will seek out cases to challenge Citizens United in the courts.”…

Since 2010, the Citizens United decision has become a metonym for a series of conservative Supreme Court decisions that unwound campaign finance regulations. Democrats have repeatedly tried to pass disclosure measures, as well as an amendment to the Constitution, intended to reverse the decisions. Republicans, often led by Sen. Ted Cruz (Tex.), have characterized those efforts as attacks on the First Amendment.

Even though the case was fought over an anti-Hillary Clinton documentary, Sen. Bernie Sanders (Vt.) became its most prominent critic in the 2016 primaries. He never finished a speech without mentioning Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, blaming it for the money gushing into politics, and pledging to appoint a Supreme Court that would undo it…

@daveweigel NN is still a thing? Aging Daily Kossers? Hasn't merged with AARP yet?

— glittersniper (@glittersniper) July 16, 2016

Turned into a pretty vibrant and fluid conference of social justice/political activists, actually. https://t.co/NDpBwIRbYR

— daveweigel (@daveweigel) July 16, 2016

netroots nation st louis BLM protest

Chris Savage of Eclectablog reported:

[Saturday] afternoon, I was sitting in a Netroots Nation 2016 panel titled “Rejecting the Pale, Male and Stale Leadership Pipeline: Roadmap to Building Inclusive Orgs”. Suddenly, a group of young, mostly African American burst into the room carrying a spay-painted banner that read “Fight back”. They told us they were marching to meet a Black Lives Matter protest in downtown St. Louis. They went from room to room, including the “Townhall” area where the booths and social area were located, encouraging attendees to join the protest.

Anne and I joined the march which went through the middle of town chanting and doing call-and-response before we ended at the entrance ramp to Interstate 64…

The entire event was well-organized, well-executed, and peaceful. The St. Louis police monitored the situation but kept their distance without interfering. In a conversation with one cop afterwards, he told us that they had to have a presence because if something had happened and someone got hurt, they needed to be there. They faced being accused of not caring otherwise. But he commended the protesters for being peaceful and respectful…

Also a certain Very Serious Person took a well-earned victory lap, via video:

Netroots Nation 2017 will be held in Atlanta, August 10-13.

Apart from #Don’t Mourn Organize, what’s on the agenda for the day?

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Reader Interactions

168Comments

  1. 1.

    rikyrah

    July 17, 2016 at 5:52 am

    Good Morning ?, Everyone ?

  2. 2.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 17, 2016 at 5:58 am

    No garden pics this week —

    Was going to send you something but my computer went down about a month ago and my wife’s is acting funny in such a way I am unable to access any pics from the extended drive. If the computers on cars were as fvcked up as laptops are, there would be heads on spikes.

  3. 3.

    Aimai

    July 17, 2016 at 6:39 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: i read that as “my wife is acting funny” and I just couldnt work out the implications.

  4. 4.

    MattF

    July 17, 2016 at 6:44 am

    TPM is reporting that a WV legislator is calling for Hilz’s execution for mis-handling email. By hanging, on the National Mall. After a trial, I should say, so it would all be perfectly legal.

  5. 5.

    Another Holocene Human

    July 17, 2016 at 6:49 am

    If anybody is out there thinking about hormone therapy for their transgender condition, please don’t wait 20 years like I did. 20 years plus of your brain pickling in the wrong hormones will do nothing but harm. Also, hormone replacement therapy doesn’t cause roid rage or PMS, hormonal fluctuations and juicing cause that. You don’t suddenly become another person, you just get to be more of yourself. I wish someone would have told me that instead of telling me old queen’s tales about “second puberty” “mood swings” and the like. Or fear mongering about surgical options. The reason trans people get surgeries is because they work. Dysphoria bad. Fixing it good.

  6. 6.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 17, 2016 at 6:55 am

    @Aimai: She always acts a little funny, that’s why I married her. Keeps me on my toes. Especially when she talks in her sleep. The things I learn then….

  7. 7.

    gene108

    July 17, 2016 at 7:04 am

    @Aimai:

    I read it the same way. :-)

  8. 8.

    RSR

    July 17, 2016 at 7:20 am

    Atlanta for NN17? In August? Can’t say I’m thrilled with that pick. But it’s not about me, so I hope it works well. I don’t know if I’ll attend or not.

  9. 9.

    Chyron HR

    July 17, 2016 at 7:20 am

    @MattF:

    TRUMP: “I can still change my VP pick, right?”

  10. 10.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    July 17, 2016 at 7:40 am

    I still have this t-shirt from the ’80s: Don’t Blame Me I voted for Bill ‘n Opus.
    Every once in a while being a pack rat pays off.

  11. 11.

    Baud

    July 17, 2016 at 7:40 am

    @MattF:

    After a trial, I should say, so it would all be perfectly legal.

    Presided over by Judge Kafka, I’m sure.

  12. 12.

    Zinsky

    July 17, 2016 at 7:44 am

    @MattF: Matt – the inability of people on the right to think judiciously and failing to apply common sense and precedent to current circumstances is a hallmark of the modern conservative movement. Is this asshole in West Virginia, land of the toothless, also planning to execute Colin Powell and Condaleeza Rice, since they also used private e-mail servers?

  13. 13.

    MattF

    July 17, 2016 at 7:45 am

    @Baud: Judge Lynch was the first choice, but he was unavailable.

  14. 14.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 17, 2016 at 7:46 am

    Netroots Nation 2017 will be held in Atlanta, August 10-13.

    In my calendar.

    @RSR:

    We have air conditioning. Come on down!

  15. 15.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 17, 2016 at 7:53 am

    @Zinsky: Don’t forget the Right’s favorite lying, sexually covetous, traitor… I mean Heroic Patriot, David Petraeus.

  16. 16.

    Applejinx

    July 17, 2016 at 7:54 am

    I’m thrilled to see Hillary turn so obviously against Citizens United. To me it’s like the concept of picking Warren for veep: it’s a tell. We don’t need ALL the tells but we can and should be paying attention to them.

    As the resident more-and-more-pumped-about-Hillary-whilst-still-not-entirely-trusting-her, what this tells me is that Hillary believes in the lefty rabble, even those Bernistas who had been so annoying. Bernie’s run demonstrated it was possible to run a populist campaign and raise enough money to win (money is still the deciding factor in elections).

    She’s prepared to trade away (or at least make more cumbersome) the channels raw money and capital use to pay HER off, in the belief that she won’t need it: hobble that side of politics and the Republicans lose worse, and she’s capable of making it up with small donors and running legitimately populist campaigns. In fact she’s so convinced of this she figures she and other Dems can keep ahead of RIGHT wing populist campaigns of that nature, and I think she’s right. The wingnuts are increasingly old and impoverished and grifted-upon, and the 2016 primary demonstrated that the progressive wing of the Left still has a crapload of money in the tank to make the engine go.

    This is a very dark and cynical view of politics (but, it’s a view of politics: what do you expect?).

    On the other hand, it’s a dark and cynical view which suggests the probable leader of the free world has correctly identified a popular swing away from oligarchy, and means to LEAD that swing and see to it that the backlash is productive and betters the country. AND she’s a wonk, and she has political clout for days.

    Apologies to all those who’ll tell me ‘OF COURSE she does this, it’s who she’s always been!’ and we may never know if you’re right. You may end up with much evidence to support your faith in her, because what it looks like from here is, Hillary is choosing sides and telegraphing it in no uncertain terms.

    I just think she stands to gain hugely by doing this—that it’s far from an altruistic move—but indeed it’s better for us all.

  17. 17.

    HinTN

    July 17, 2016 at 7:58 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: And good food!

  18. 18.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    July 17, 2016 at 8:02 am

    I wonder just how critical Citizens United is. It allows massive spending by outside groups in support of candidates, and that certainly has happened. But I haven’t seen (and I have looked) any analysis of how this affects results. If all that ‘black’ money is being used to buy advertising, that’s probably the least effective way to influence a national election. GOTV and direct contact matter far more. Advertising enriches broadcasters and consultants, but produces little lasting result to motivate voters. They tune it out and the effect fades.
    I’d like to know if CU has actually skewed outcomes, and if so how.
    I still want it gone, but I’d like to know just how worrisome it is. Seems like that should have been investigated by now in terms other than just dollars spent.

  19. 19.

    satby

    July 17, 2016 at 8:07 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: Maybe we should have a Balloon Juice convention at the same time!

  20. 20.

    Baud

    July 17, 2016 at 8:07 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: Probably has greater effect on the congressional and state levels than the presidential.

  21. 21.

    Baud

    July 17, 2016 at 8:08 am

    @satby: I’ll bring the anthrax, you bring the tire irons.

  22. 22.

    Immanentize

    July 17, 2016 at 8:11 am

    @MattF: Scalia is not available because he is dead.

  23. 23.

    MattF

    July 17, 2016 at 8:11 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: It’s a bad thing when elections are reduced to a shoot-out between teams of dueling billionaires. That said, I’d rather see billionaires get taken for a ride by political con artists than ordinary people get fleeced by the likes of Trump or Noot.

    And I agree that the effect of money on politics (short of actual pay-to-play) is murky.

  24. 24.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    July 17, 2016 at 8:12 am

    @Baud: True. I intentionally referred to the national races in my comments because races where the candidates have lower name recognition are likely to be influenced more by advertising. Down-ticket races are where the GOP is clobbering us, and CU is helping them.

  25. 25.

    JPL

    July 17, 2016 at 8:13 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: The increase in funding on the local level, seems to help.
    The Koch brothers promise to support Republican candidates for Congress, and it will be interesting to see, if that helps keep the Senate in Republican hands.

  26. 26.

    Matt McIrvin

    July 17, 2016 at 8:14 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: The direct effect on election results is probably less important than the influence that’s being bought over the candidate. The money has diminishing marginal value, yes, but for that very reason the candidate is acutely aware that they need a whole lot of it. And anyone can see under the tiny fig leaf that the law currently requires for unlimited PAC contributions.

    Also, I suspect you actually can buy a desired result in small local races, where everyone is struggling just to put up a few yard signs, and, say, Koch money suddenly pours in to bigfoot somebody.

  27. 27.

    Peter

    July 17, 2016 at 8:16 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: Although it hasn’t been as apocalyptic as many people feared, it’s definitely had an effect on state and local elections, and has amplified the Republican Party’s primary problem – by which I mean, how you have to be a batshit loon to avoid a primary challenge, where dark money can have a big impact.

  28. 28.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 17, 2016 at 8:17 am

    @HinTN:

    And good food!

    And lovely people!

  29. 29.

    debbie

    July 17, 2016 at 8:17 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:

    From what I’ve seen, it doesn’t do much more than give the donors opportunities to make themselves look like jackasses. I’d rather have a sunshine law for political donations. Let the people know who’s behind all the money.

  30. 30.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 17, 2016 at 8:18 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: All the analysis I’ve read showed little bang for the buck, tho most (if not all) of that was focused on federal elections. As others have stated, local and state elections could well be a different story.

  31. 31.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 17, 2016 at 8:18 am

    @Baud: Yum.

  32. 32.

    Baud

    July 17, 2016 at 8:19 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    And lovely people! But enough about me.

    Fixed.

  33. 33.

    Immanentize

    July 17, 2016 at 8:19 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: I believe the biggest effect on national races, I.e. President (And sate-wide races like the Senate) has been in the vast voter suppression work accomplished due to dark money in States and in courts which makes.even the Presidential race look closer than it ought to be decreasing mandate or even as we have seen, legitimacy.

  34. 34.

    gene108

    July 17, 2016 at 8:20 am

    @Applejinx:

    Apologies to all those who’ll tell me ‘OF COURSE she does this, it’s who she’s always been!’ and we may never know if you’re right. You may end up with much evidence to support your faith in her, because what it looks like from here is, Hillary is choosing sides and telegraphing it in no uncertain terms.

    Democrats have been trying to undo the CU decision from the moment it was decided. Democrats came out with the DISCLOSE Act in the summer of 2010. It failed to get passed a Republican filibuster by one vote.

    I do not ascribe wanting to undo the CU decision to altruistic intentions. The decision has been used by Republicans to devastating effect to gain control of state house. For Democrats, it is a matter of self preservation to get rid of the effects of the decision and level the playing field.

    I do not think it is a coincidence Republican gains in the last six years coincide with the CU decision, gutting the VRA and voter ID laws.

    I’d personally like another Constitutional Amendment aimed at making voter disenfranchisement harder, if not impossible, so dirty tricks like purging voter roles, long waits in urban areas, onerous voter ID laws and literacy tests* become a thing of the past.

    * Literacy tests are banned via the VRA. Given the current Republican hostility to the VRA, if they ever get control of government again, I expect the VRA to be on the chopping block and literacy tests to make a come back.

  35. 35.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 17, 2016 at 8:21 am

    @satby:

    There are quite a few Juicers in metro Atlanta (or at least within comfortable driving distance, like Raven) and we have thirteen months to put this thing together! Let’s do it!

  36. 36.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 17, 2016 at 8:23 am

    @Baud:

    I’ll bring the anthrax, you bring the tire irons.

    Tire rims, not tire irons. Sheesh. Were you raised by wolves?

  37. 37.

    Scapegoat

    July 17, 2016 at 8:23 am

    We just signed a sales agreement on our house to a very nice racially-mixed young couple (an Assistant Professor and a professional musician) and are finally moving away from the conservative urbs surrounding the University of Cognitive Dissonance. Will be raising Billygoat in our favorite city next to a 660 acre wooded park.

    Thrilled is a weak word for the feeling!

    As for Hillary, I like to think that the nation has finally caught up with her early career ambitions; ones that she was repeated pulverized for (and as a result were suppressed) over the past few decades. Of course, the possibility exists that this may also be yet another display of her complete malleability to popular messages, regardless of which way the wind is blowing .

    In either case, we win if she wins – – especially if she follows through.

  38. 38.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 17, 2016 at 8:24 am

    Being that there’s no garden pics… One of the advantages of becoming a member of the Huntington is that on a few evenings they reopen the grounds(not the galleries) for members to see the place as the sun sets. Last night was one of those evenings(my first), so I got some pics.

  39. 39.

    satby

    July 17, 2016 at 8:24 am

    @Applejinx: Sometimes you’re incredibly dense. Citizens United Not Timid was primarily founded as a super PAC against Clinton’s run in 2008 (the name was even chosen to call her a (CUNT). Of course SHE’s going to come out for overturning that odious decision.

  40. 40.

    Uncle Cosmo

    July 17, 2016 at 8:24 am

    @OzarkHillbilly:

    If the computers on cars were as fvcked up as laptops are, there would be thousands of bodies of people who died slowly & in utter agony trapped in crumpled wrecks.

    FTFY.

    And then there would be heads on spikes.

  41. 41.

    satby

    July 17, 2016 at 8:26 am

    @Baud: It is ON!

  42. 42.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 17, 2016 at 8:26 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    Were you raised by wolves?

    You just noticed that fact?

  43. 43.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 17, 2016 at 8:28 am

    @Baud:

    Now I feel bad about casting nasturtiums at you in #36. But not bad enough to delete it.

  44. 44.

    ?BillinGlendaleCA

    July 17, 2016 at 8:28 am

    @satby: This is true, but there were two different Citizens United groups; Roger Stone’s(the one you mentioned) and another that generated the CU case.

  45. 45.

    raven

    July 17, 2016 at 8:33 am

    Lemme get on that weedeater while it is still below 80.

  46. 46.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    July 17, 2016 at 8:36 am

    Atlanta in August can be brutal. It’s like a ghost town at mid-day; nobody on the streets.
    I have to be in Marietta Mon-Weds. It’s another clean room bunny suit job so I’ll be cool during the day. Not planning on going for any walks in the afternoon.

  47. 47.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 17, 2016 at 8:37 am

    @Uncle Cosmo: instead, there are thousands of people who died slowly & in utter agony with their heads impaled on laptop screens thru repeated and increasingly forceful head banging in frustration.

  48. 48.

    rikyrah

    July 17, 2016 at 8:40 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:
    It has been bad for state and local elections

  49. 49.

    Uncle Cosmo

    July 17, 2016 at 8:45 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: The interesting effect of Citizens Untied ;^) on the GOP of 2016 was that any candidate who could attract a sugardaddy willing to part with enough of his Money Bin had the wherewithall to stay in till the bitter end. This allowed Trumpolini to win early primaries with bare pluralities, & then send his opponents packing one by one when they wouldn’t combine against him until it was too late (each weed in that Field of Schemes meeting its individual pseudo-Niemöller moment when there was no one left to speak for them because the remaining candidates all hoped to be the last one standing instead of than making a collective (8^O) stand). Stand by rugged individualism, fall by rugged individualism, I guess… Also, unintended consequences!

  50. 50.

    Aimai

    July 17, 2016 at 8:53 am

    @Applejinx: christ–you again? The thing I object go in your comments is that you have the most juvenile, ham fisted, third hand, political views–yet you insist on lecturing the rest of us, and Hillary Clinton, as though we were in need of your help and explications. No–Hillary is not an evil genius. Yes she has done some obviously smart things to communicate with Bernie’s moron followers. For instance the “constitutional amendment” part of her NN proffer was obviously made to stroke the egos of people so fucking stupid that they think an ungettable constitutional fix is evidence of strenghth and determination and doing what Bernie wants. Any lawyer (which she is) or political actor (which she is) knows that citizens united can only be overturned effectively by a liberal supreme court which Hillary was always going ng to appoint.

  51. 51.

    AMinNC

    July 17, 2016 at 8:54 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Your photos are gorgeous. Makes me want to become AM in CA, in spite of y’all’s water issues (and in spite of the fact that if I’m no longer in NC I don’t know if I can still use the word “y’all’s”)

  52. 52.

    gene108

    July 17, 2016 at 8:55 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:

    2011 “New Yorker” article on Art Pope’s influence on the 2010 state elections in NC.

    As stated above Democratic state legislators who maybe took out a TV ad in the last week of October were getting blitzed with attack ads for months and they did not have the money or infrastructure to respond.

    Edit: Art Pope’s involvement was spearheaded by the likes of Ed Gillespie, who helped dream up Operation Red State in 2010, which was based on using third party money via the CU decision to impact down ballot races.

  53. 53.

    Baud

    July 17, 2016 at 8:57 am

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I need to bone up on internet traditions.

    casting nasturtiums

    ” Simple Definition of nasturtium
    : a plant with circular leaves and yellow, orange, or red flowers that are sometimes eaten”

    Huh?

  54. 54.

    satby

    July 17, 2016 at 8:57 am

    @Aimai: I was going to add “quit lecturing about the fantasy Clinton in your head” but the Kindle died on me before I could totally finish.

  55. 55.

    Patricia Kayden

    July 17, 2016 at 9:00 am

    So this is the racist nonsense Black people still have to go through in this country in 2016?
    https://mic.com/articles/148628/black-family-in-san-antonio-stands-up-to-racist-white-couple-at-chester-s-restaurant?utm_source=policymicTBLR&utm_medium=main&utm_campaign=social#.R4P3XBIHq

  56. 56.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 17, 2016 at 9:00 am

    @Baud: Think of it as being like throwing roses at the returning Roman General after a successful campaign of conquest.

  57. 57.

    WaterGirl

    July 17, 2016 at 9:01 am

    @gene108: As did I!

  58. 58.

    satby

    July 17, 2016 at 9:05 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Aha! Ok, I stand corrected on that specific detail.
    But the jinx can still quit lecturing us about Machiavelli Hillary, because it’s really offensive. I’m not here to read gummed over right wing bullshit masquerading as progressive analysis.

  59. 59.

    Botsplainer, Neoliberal Corporatist Shill

    July 17, 2016 at 9:06 am

    @Aimai:

    There may be a side road to fixing it via the tax code and state organizing statutes in terms of deductibility of lobby expenses.

    What if corporations who pay for lobbying had to treat those expenses as dividends to shareholders, per IRS regs? And in the ensuing whimpering litigation, the more liberal courts refined the “corporate personhood” doctrine to recognize that corporations are, as wholly government creatures of statute, not imbued with “belief” rights, which strip away 1st Amendment speech and religious protections.

    It would gut everything from Citizens United to Hobby Lobby, limit it to sole individual ownership and partnership entities that were only held by people.

  60. 60.

    debbie

    July 17, 2016 at 9:06 am

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Sickening. Interesting that she would use the word, “hoe,” though.

  61. 61.

    Baud

    July 17, 2016 at 9:10 am

    @OzarkHillbilly: Thanks.

  62. 62.

    OzarkHillbilly

    July 17, 2016 at 9:15 am

    @Baud: You too are a conquering hero…. of a pack of snarling vitriolic jackals.

  63. 63.

    WaterGirl

    July 17, 2016 at 9:16 am

    Could we maybe skip the Appeljinx bashing? I see what he/she is going through as a process and I see these posts as thinking out loud or perhaps even as a way to help bring other hard-core Bernie people along in whatever process they are going through.

    Sometimes, perhaps many times, I read a few lines of Applejinx and move on, but I don’t see why we have to call names when someone is not a troll.

  64. 64.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 17, 2016 at 9:17 am

    @Baud:

    Not an Internet tradition specifically, just an old classic malapropism (for “casting aspersions”).

  65. 65.

    tybee

    July 17, 2016 at 9:19 am

    @raven:

    85 here. dew point at 80, humidity 87%

    overcast, wind velocity nil.

  66. 66.

    WaterGirl

    July 17, 2016 at 9:19 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Lovely place, lovely photos!

  67. 67.

    raven

    July 17, 2016 at 9:20 am

    @tybee: Nice, I’m done with the weedeater, now I have to dash in and out and watch “Beef” in the Open.

  68. 68.

    tybee

    July 17, 2016 at 9:25 am

    i have to wander in every 45 minutes or so to dry off.

  69. 69.

    Poopyman

    July 17, 2016 at 9:25 am

    @raven: I delayed cutting the grass in deference to the church a couple of hundred feet up the street (w/o A/C), but at least here in the Great Green North it’s only 77 and the dew point’s only 68. Both are climbing, though.

    Now to fire up the steed and ride!

  70. 70.

    raven

    July 17, 2016 at 9:28 am

    @Poopyman: I’m torn, it’s been so dry that I could get away with now mowing but I hate it when it gets high.

  71. 71.

    Mike J

    July 17, 2016 at 9:30 am

    Ariel Edwards-Levy ‏@aedwardslevy 15 minutes ago
    NBC/WSJ: Clinton +5, “numbers are unchanged”
    CNN/ORC: Clinton +7, “little has changed”
    Post/ABC: Clinton +4, “shift in Trump’s direction”

    John Harwood Verified account @JohnJHarwood
    new NBC/WSJ poll: in 13 swing states, Clinton leads Trump 48% to 40%

  72. 72.

    Baud

    July 17, 2016 at 9:31 am

    @SiubhanDuinne: I thought the phrase was “casting asparagus.”

  73. 73.

    Baud

    July 17, 2016 at 9:32 am

    @Mike J: Those don’t count.

  74. 74.

    SiubhanDuinne

    July 17, 2016 at 9:32 am

    @Baud:

    Nah, that’s a Republican come-lately wannabe imposter.

  75. 75.

    satby

    July 17, 2016 at 9:33 am

    @WaterGirl: I don’t think aimai or I called him names. And his shtick is tedious, he stinks as a mindreader. Though as a fiction writer he has more talent.

  76. 76.

    jeffreyw

    July 17, 2016 at 9:34 am

    Thread needs more Gabe!

  77. 77.

    schrodinger's cat

    July 17, 2016 at 9:38 am

    @Baud: I once grew them in a window box, but my cat sat on them killed them.

  78. 78.

    Gelfling 545

    July 17, 2016 at 9:39 am

    I have a couple of decent garden pics but my iPad & the email feature don’t see eye to eye.

  79. 79.

    schrodinger's cat

    July 17, 2016 at 9:40 am

    @jeffreyw: Aaww Gabe is sweet! Bitsy is not itteh bitteh anymore. Is she intimidating him?

  80. 80.

    NotMax

    July 17, 2016 at 9:40 am

    Generally speaking, “call for a constitutional amendment” = Washingtonese for “kick the can down the road.”

  81. 81.

    Patricia Kayden

    July 17, 2016 at 9:41 am

    @gene108: Could Rednecks or trailer park trash pass literacy tests? Many White people would fail those too. They better stick with voter ID laws.

  82. 82.

    Patricia Kayden

    July 17, 2016 at 9:43 am

    @debbie: Quite ironic. What gets me about that video is how no one comes to the Black family’s defense. Not one person. Says a lot.

  83. 83.

    rikyrah

    July 17, 2016 at 9:44 am

    @tybee:
    Been there. Will be back there later on this week??
    I DO NOT like summer

  84. 84.

    rikyrah

    July 17, 2016 at 9:45 am

    @Patricia Kayden:
    Says a great deal.

  85. 85.

    JPL

    July 17, 2016 at 9:45 am

    @jeffreyw: Gabe is pleading not to whacked! Cute!

  86. 86.

    Technocrat

    July 17, 2016 at 9:47 am

    @jeffreyw:

    Hmm, Gabe link not working for me.

  87. 87.

    debbie

    July 17, 2016 at 9:47 am

    @Patricia Kayden:

    Well, with the end of political correctness on the horizon, I’m afraid this shit will occur much more often.

  88. 88.

    JanieM

    July 17, 2016 at 9:48 am

    @Patricia Kayden: The rules are there to be used when convenient. Those registering voters will simply stretch them, so that if an illiterate white person has trouble with the test, that person will be helped along, whereas if a black person has any difficulty at all, he or she will be failed forthwith.

  89. 89.

    debbie

    July 17, 2016 at 9:49 am

    @jeffreyw:

    No space is too tight to receive affection!

  90. 90.

    Technocrat

    July 17, 2016 at 9:49 am

    @debbie:

    Word. This is the world they want Trump to enable.

  91. 91.

    jeffreyw

    July 17, 2016 at 10:00 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: Nope, she was perched atop Mrs J, watching the sleeping puppeh, when he woke and noticed her. He raised up to give her a good sniff and she bailed.

  92. 92.

    RealityBites

    July 17, 2016 at 10:01 am

    I would love to find a way to end the election of judges. Now THAT is a way big money can really corrupt the system.

  93. 93.

    satby

    July 17, 2016 at 10:02 am

    @rikyrah: right there with you. I hate summer, to tell the truth, I prefer to skip from a long spring to a long fall ?

  94. 94.

    Mary G

    July 17, 2016 at 10:06 am

    @Patricia Kayden: The bystanders who did nothing are appalling.

  95. 95.

    MattF

    July 17, 2016 at 10:09 am

    OT. I have to say, this is the very best ’emergency exit’ sign I’ve ever seen. Probably NSFW.

  96. 96.

    Gelfling 545

    July 17, 2016 at 10:09 am

    @Baud: it’s an old malapropism for casting aspersions. Far older than the Internet.
    ETA I see this has already been mentioned. Reading this site in my iPad is torture but it’s all I have right now so I miss things as the scrolling sucks sewage.

  97. 97.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    July 17, 2016 at 10:12 am

    @Gelfling 545: It’s delightful, and looks great on the internet. Apologies to asparagus, of course.

  98. 98.

    O. Felix Culpa

    July 17, 2016 at 10:13 am

    Ms. O and I are resting after a busy week organizing a Democratic Unity lunch that took place in Santa Fe yesterday. The HFA, Democratic Party, and Bernie supporters came together in support of our common goals – defeat Trump! support downticket candidates! We were expecting 50-60 people, over 100 showed up. It was a splendidly positive event and we signed up numerous volunteers for our phonebanking effort (with former Texas Senator Wendy Davis) this Thursday and future activities. Voter registration efforts are already ongoing and GOTV will really ramp up after the convention.

    And, one of the volunteers on my team brought home-baked toffee bars that were to die for. Enough to melt the resistance of the most obdurate Bernie supporter, I’m sure.

  99. 99.

    schrodinger's cat

    July 17, 2016 at 10:15 am

    @jeffreyw: She has a very striking coat. How are the other kittehs reacting to Gabe?
    BTW since you cook a lot I has a question. Do you have any specific recommendations for cook tops/ranges and hoods? I prefer gas for the cooktop.

    *Trying again, since the first comment is stuck in moderation. Again.

  100. 100.

    PurpleGirl

    July 17, 2016 at 10:16 am

    @jeffreyw: The look on the puppeh’s face is precious. He wants to change places with the cat so much. The calico’s colors are intense. Thanks for a great picture of a cute pair.

  101. 101.

    a hip hop artist from Idaho (fka Bella Q)

    July 17, 2016 at 10:27 am

    Does anyone who cans want some lids/liners? I bought some Ball Jars for storage and of course use storage lids. So I have wide mouth canning lids taking up space, and I would like for them to have homes. All the family folks who canned aged out.

  102. 102.

    D58826

    July 17, 2016 at 10:32 am

    @Baud: No they will prop Scalia up in the corner,

  103. 103.

    Shell

    July 17, 2016 at 10:34 am

    casting nasturtiums

    Au resevoir!

  104. 104.

    MattF

    July 17, 2016 at 10:39 am

    Warren has been tweeting links to ‘Crooked Donald’ news articles for the past hour. If you’ve got a taste for that sort of thing…

  105. 105.

    ruemara

    July 17, 2016 at 10:40 am

    @Applejinx: christ. You are ignorant. She’s always been against it, it came about from a case of a media company doing anti-Hillary ads! You’ve been told this several times and still act like Columbus discovering America while conveniently ignoring the people already there.

  106. 106.

    Anya

    July 17, 2016 at 10:40 am

    @MattF: I saw some people arguing on twitter: “but he said after a trial.” Like that makes a difference. I don’t understand where the people calling for Hillary’s imprisonment were during the Bush scandals. Did they call for Bush’s imprisonment during these scandals: American troops forced to travel in unarmored Humvees and BUY their OWN body armor; Abu Ghraib torture photos; outing a CIA agent as a payback for her husband telling the world that Bush was full of shit; Pat Tillman; Billions of dollars went missing in Iraq; politically motivated firing of U.S. Attorneys; missing emails and refusal to testify, drawning an American city, etc. And these are the ones I remember.

  107. 107.

    patrick II

    July 17, 2016 at 10:41 am

    @Matt McIrvin:

    The threat of primarying republican congressmen by rwnj keeps many of them voting like they themselves were rwnj. That threat has been made pretty explicit by the Koch brothers who fund runs against any republican who has the nerve to vote for anything democrats want. So its not just the money spent, its the treat of money being spent that increases the influence in congress to those with deep pockets.
    Elected judges are also a big problem with Citizens United. If a corporation has a case coming before a court it is best to make a significant contribution to the judge who will rule your way. Before Citizens United, ex-judge (except for that time she denied voters the right to pick a president) was on a crusade to get money out of judicial elections. Haven’t heard from her since — I guess she’s off somewhere being a good quiet republican.

  108. 108.

    D58826

    July 17, 2016 at 10:43 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: Read Jane Mayer’s Dark Money. The billionaires have found numerous ways to funnel money into the system w.o depending on Citizens United. That decision just makes it easier. While I think the decision should be overturned, it is just one of many problems with money in the system.

  109. 109.

    patrick II

    July 17, 2016 at 10:44 am

    In the picture above, the young lady in shorts marching at the front of the demonstrators appears to me to be the same young nurse who was pictured being taken by two riot clad policemen a week or two ago.

  110. 110.

    MattF

    July 17, 2016 at 10:46 am

    @Anya: As I suggested upthread, that detail means he’s not specifically advocating a lynching. It’s not really a positive angle to the story, if you ask me.

  111. 111.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 17, 2016 at 10:46 am

    @ruemara:

    christ. You are ignorant. She’s always been against it, it came about from a case of a media company doing anti-Hillary ads! You’ve been told this several times and still act like Columbus discovering America while conveniently ignoring the people already there.

    That… is… one of the best analogies for this primary I’ve ever seen.

  112. 112.

    JPL

    July 17, 2016 at 10:47 am

    @D58826: Great another empty chair.

  113. 113.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 17, 2016 at 10:50 am

    @Another Holocene Human: I know I’m three hour late, but glad to hear it & preach!

  114. 114.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 17, 2016 at 10:52 am

    @WaterGirl: If someone is a sincere idiot, we should avoid mentioning the idiocy? That’s new.

  115. 115.

    debbie

    July 17, 2016 at 10:54 am

    @Gelfling 545:

    You can switch to Desktop on your iPad. It’s slower loading, but those up and down arrows are there.

  116. 116.

    Anya

    July 17, 2016 at 10:56 am

    @Mike J: The media narrative is that Clinton and Trump are neck and neck in the polls, despite HRC spending millions and Trump spending zero. Watching that, I was torn between anger and ambivalence. Anger because the media continues to prop Trump and to sell him as the “authentic, man of the people candidate.” But at the same time, I somewhat approve of that narrative because I want moron Trump to continue to do what he’s doing. He doesn’t need to open any field offices in the swing states because he’s already WINNING! He should just continue to hold rallies in the actual swing states of New York, California and New Jersey.

  117. 117.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 17, 2016 at 10:56 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: Only if the courts determine that the idiocy is a sincerely-held belief.

  118. 118.

    Thoughtful David

    July 17, 2016 at 10:58 am

    @MattF:
    And yet Peter Wehner (NY Times) still thinks the GOP is not “a party sustained by racist appeals, composed of haters and conspiracy nuts, indifferent to the plight of the poor and the weak, anti-woman.”

    Silly little fool.

  119. 119.

    Emma

    July 17, 2016 at 11:01 am

    @Applejinx: You know, I bet you were the kid who always wondered exactly what ulterior motives your mother had to bake you a cake for your birthday.

  120. 120.

    MattF

    July 17, 2016 at 11:03 am

    @Thoughtful David: He’s deluded. The hope is that, sooner or later, he’ll open his eyes.

  121. 121.

    Schlemazel Khan

    July 17, 2016 at 11:07 am

    @Shell:
    Welcome to my humble chapeau.

  122. 122.

    wenchacha

    July 17, 2016 at 11:08 am

    Breaking: police shot in Baton Rouge, some dead. CNN is allowing Harry Houck to descibe it, and tell us all how everyone hates the police, aided by protesters and MSM.

  123. 123.

    AnotherBruce

    July 17, 2016 at 11:11 am

    @Mary G: Where was the restaurant management during this. Leaving aside the racism (and you should not) If someone picks a fight in a place of business, they get kicked out of the place. Why would anyone put up with this (including the bystanders) when someone is ruining their meal?

  124. 124.

    O. Felix Culpa

    July 17, 2016 at 11:18 am

    @wenchacha:

    police shot in Baton Rouge, some dead.

    Moar gunz. More dead. Le sigh.

  125. 125.

    WaterGirl

    July 17, 2016 at 11:22 am

    @MattF: You forgot the best part, the caption:

    In related news, none of the men can find the north stairwell.

    I am still laughing out loud.

  126. 126.

    Thor Heyerdahl

    July 17, 2016 at 11:25 am

    @Ultraviolet Thunder: CU might not have had an influence nationally, but at the State level (congress, senate, state houses & senate) especially in flyover states with cheap media buys, it likely was worth it to the oligarchs.

    Edit: if I had only read two comments later for the word of Baud

  127. 127.

    MomSense

    July 17, 2016 at 11:28 am

    @satby:

    Then you should move to Maine where sunmer vacationers complain about the cold and rain.

  128. 128.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 17, 2016 at 11:32 am

    @MomSense: Why go all the way to Maine when you have San Francisco?

  129. 129.

    Doug R

    July 17, 2016 at 11:32 am

    @debbie: I believe Justice Kennedy mentioned something about being able to find out who donors are in this internet age. That may be a solution-allowing anonymous donations up to say $1000 or even $10,000-to protect organizations like the NAACP, but requiring FULL names for larger donations, not just shell companies. First amendment doesn’t guarantee privacy, if you donate that much money, you lose your privacy rights.

  130. 130.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 17, 2016 at 11:33 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Some people are closer to Maine. Plus, more moose than SF.

  131. 131.

    WaterGirl

    July 17, 2016 at 11:34 am

    @O. Felix Culpa: The unity event sounds awesome. Kudos to you guys for hosting! Holy cow, 100 people.

    I was sorry to see “former Texas Senator Wendy Davis” – does that mean she wasn’t reelected? That’s really too bad.

  132. 132.

    MomSense

    July 17, 2016 at 11:34 am

    @Patricia Kayden: @Patricia Kayden:

    Wow. That was soooo ugly. She was really brave to confront those racist jerks.

  133. 133.

    Doug R

    July 17, 2016 at 11:35 am

    @gene108: A voting rights amendment with language about larger donations can’t be anonymous?

  134. 134.

    WaterGirl

    July 17, 2016 at 11:37 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: It just felt harsh to me, maybe I was in a garden chat frame of mind. Carry on.

  135. 135.

    O. Felix Culpa

    July 17, 2016 at 11:37 am

    @WaterGirl: Wendy Davis ran for Texas governor and lost. I could be wrong (too short on time to look up), but I think she gave up her Senate seat in the gubernatorial bid.

  136. 136.

    schrodinger's cat

    July 17, 2016 at 11:38 am

    @MomSense: Summers in Maine are beautiful, especially if you are by the coast. Summer rain is refreshing and cooling unlike rain during cooler months. I don’t know what they are complaining about.

  137. 137.

    Doug R

    July 17, 2016 at 11:41 am

    @Botsplainer, Neoliberal Corporatist Shill: I like the way you think.

  138. 138.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 17, 2016 at 11:43 am

    @WaterGirl: Long form babbling about the cynical evil genius of HRC becomes tiresome after a few months. As does stating obvious things as though they were revelations. But then I am one of the assholes who didn’t like Tommy either.

  139. 139.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 17, 2016 at 11:46 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: You say that like it’s a feature.

    We have more bears!

  140. 140.

    MomSense

    July 17, 2016 at 11:46 am

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    It’s raining today. I’m sitting on a porch looking at the Atlantic and listening to the blues festival across the street.

  141. 141.

    Omnes Omnibus

    July 17, 2016 at 11:47 am

    @Major Major Major Major: Maine is close to Provincetown if people want bears.

  142. 142.

    philadelphialawyer

    July 17, 2016 at 11:51 am

    One the one hand, we get the Hillary is a cool faced liar, a machiavellian manipulator and impostor of historic, evil genius status, schtick. On the other hand, we get the Hillary could not organize a booze up in a brewery, makes “unforced” and “gobsmack” error after error, and needs the learned and savvy commentariat’s political acumen and expertise merely to get out of bed in the morning, routine. They both suck.

  143. 143.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 17, 2016 at 11:52 am

    @Omnes Omnibus: fine, then, more fog for me.

  144. 144.

    jeffreyw

    July 17, 2016 at 11:52 am

    @schrodinger’s cat: There hasn’t been much contact with the kittehs. They tend to just avoid him when he is awake. He hasn’t been chasing or barking them.
    Stoves? I lust for several of the big name six burner stoves but that would mean a kitchen remodel. We have a 30 year old Jenn-air convection range that came with grill and griddle modules. They haven’t been on there for a long long time.

  145. 145.

    Major Major Major Major

    July 17, 2016 at 11:54 am

    @philadelphialawyer: “In the course of a single conversation, I have been assured that Hillary is cunning and manipulative but also crass, clueless, and stunningly impolitic; that she is a hopelessly woolly-headed do-gooder and, at heart, a hardball litigator; that she is a base opportunist and a zealot convinced that God is on her side. What emerges is a cultural inventory of villainy rather than a plausible depiction of an actual person.” — Henry Louis Gates
    1996

  146. 146.

    Stella B

    July 17, 2016 at 11:56 am

    @?BillinGlendaleCA: Nevertheless, CU was founded by David Bossie (of the Mellon-Scaife funded Arkansas Project) and CU** was founded by Roger Stone (general Republican rat-fuckery). Applejinx et al are just wildly wrong when they claim that HRC was at any time and in any amount accepting of the CU ruling.

  147. 147.

    schrodinger's cat

    July 17, 2016 at 11:57 am

    @jeffreyw: I am lusting after them too, the Viking range with 6 burners is $7000+, very spendy!

  148. 148.

    satby

    July 17, 2016 at 12:03 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa: sounds very successful! Well done to you all!

  149. 149.

    satby

    July 17, 2016 at 12:07 pm

    @Omnes Omnibus: exactly where I was. And am, as a fellow a#hole.

  150. 150.

    MattF

    July 17, 2016 at 12:10 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: If you buy one, get a fire extinguisher too. I’m not kidding– a relative of mine who’s an insurance adjuster says she denies coverage to anyone who has a Viking range but no extinguisher.

  151. 151.

    Ruckus

    July 17, 2016 at 12:13 pm

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:
    I look at CU a slightly different way. You and I and everyone else here have a vote. That of course is the basis of the government that we have and have had for it’s entire existence (Of course depending on where you live, your skin color, etc you may have been or still be subject to voter ID/literacy tests). But CU changes that. It says that if you have money, you have as much influence as you have dollars. It may not be a thoroughly effective use of your money, those dollars can’t actually vote, but that money can influence how others vote. And that means of course that billionaires can buy lies and people to tell them and pay far more to help get them elected than someone like you or me, people who work and have a very limited budget for political spending.
    It’s influence peddling, on a national scale. It was illegal and people went to jail for it, with good reason. So even if the kochsucker bros throw away millions or 100s of millions to get their totally horrible ideas enacted into law, we can not do that. It makes being wealthy a different class of citizenship and that isn’t right in a democracy.

  152. 152.

    I'mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet

    July 17, 2016 at 12:16 pm

    @MattF: I haven’t looked recently, but the uber-expensive “professional” ranges often had horrible ratings on Consumer Reports, also too. I don’t know if that’s due to “I spent eleventy billion on this thing and the knobs are 2-degrees off” or due to actual problems with them, but it makes one nervous about considering them.

    I didn’t know about the fire-extinguisher stuff. Good to know! :-/

    Cheers,
    Scott.
    (Who has a 50 year old push-button GE electric drop-in range that he wants to replace before the ice caps melt…)

  153. 153.

    schrodinger's cat

    July 17, 2016 at 12:17 pm

    @MattF: Its out of my budget. I was just drooling over it, at one of the kitchen remodeling websites.

  154. 154.

    schrodinger's cat

    July 17, 2016 at 12:18 pm

    @satby: I thought we were vitriolic jackals and hyenas.

  155. 155.

    Ruckus

    July 17, 2016 at 12:23 pm

    @WaterGirl:
    People are just trying to make the process go faster. Because otherwise it is extremely tedious and annoying. AJ expects us to all see that the constant lecturing is showing the greatness of his/her way and many are just tired of explaining that he/she is annoying and tedious. It is fine that a change is at hand, that sensibility is at least on the delivery truck if it hasn’t actually arrived but we have lives to live as well.

  156. 156.

    Stella B

    July 17, 2016 at 12:30 pm

    @I’mNotSureWhoIWantToBeYet: I have an induction cooktop. Screamingly fast, excellent control, minimal clean-up effort, and no open flame. Nothing would induce me to use caveman technology for cooking again.

  157. 157.

    The Lodger

    July 17, 2016 at 12:32 pm

    @OzarkHillbilly: Or, as history labels it, Windows Vista.

  158. 158.

    The Lodger

    July 17, 2016 at 1:28 pm

    @Major Major Major Major: I’d have invited Skip Gates to the White House for a beer on the strength of that quote alone, false arrest or not.

  159. 159.

    satby

    July 17, 2016 at 1:35 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat: We’re that too. But lovable vitriolic jackals and hyenas.

  160. 160.

    J R in WV

    July 17, 2016 at 1:41 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    I have a Viking range with 4 burners and a big grill in the center. I am buying a new stove and having the store take the Viking away when they deliver the replacement. You cannot get replacement parts for it,, and 2 of the 4 burners have corroded holes in the bottom, so you get blue flames under the burner, or, if they don’t light, methane gas fumes around the open flames.

    Plus the oven temp isn’t anything close to what the dial says, you need to add 50 degrees on the dial to get to the recommended temp for a recipe.

    It is a good-looking stove, but I’m getting rid of it and getting a replacement.

  161. 161.

    Ella in New Mexico

    July 17, 2016 at 1:49 pm

    @MattF:

    It’s a bad thing when elections are reduced to a shoot-out between teams of dueling billionaires.

    So true. And in addition, it has created the dark world of PAC to PAC money exchange secrecy that people may not realize is just a great big Pyramid Scheme for a whole lotta “candidates”. Thus spawning the absurd likes of Carson, Huckabee and Gingrich’s “campaigns”. Plus it encourages complete and total “snowballs chance in Hell of winning” losers because it’s actually very lucrative to run these days. CU enhanced the flourishing of grifters, and in my opinion, has overall hurt the quality of candidates by hogging up all the air in the room by the scum, and making it really hard for decent people to get a piece of the action. The Clown Car gets too full at some point.

    In some ways, we have CU to thank for the demise of the Republican Party of recent years, also have it to thank for the failure of the Party to correct itself. Which, regardless of us being Democrats, is ultimately scary and terrible for the nation.

  162. 162.

    Ella in New Mexico

    July 17, 2016 at 1:54 pm

    @O. Felix Culpa: Praise be, our beautiful New Mexico is still not crazy-land, and may the sickness pass us over in the coming days. ;-)

    Sounds like it was fun and productive!

  163. 163.

    schrodinger's cat

    July 17, 2016 at 2:17 pm

    @J R in WV: What are you replacing it with?

  164. 164.

    Renie

    July 17, 2016 at 3:08 pm

    How do I send in garden photos?

  165. 165.

    Steeplejack (phone)

    July 17, 2016 at 3:26 pm

    @Renie:

    Attach them to an e-mail to front-pager Anne Laurie. (Use “contact a front-pager” link at top of the page.)

  166. 166.

    Renie

    July 17, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    @Steeplejack (phone): Thanks!

  167. 167.

    J R in WV

    July 17, 2016 at 4:10 pm

    @schrodinger’s cat:

    A 36-inch Thermador, which costs about the same as a Viking. It got better scores on Consumer Report, by a little bit, and an old appliance repair guy told me it was “good stuff, well made”. so I am cautiously optimistic.

    Sorry to be late answering the simple question, we had company late last night, and took a nap…

  168. 168.

    O. Felix Culpa

    July 17, 2016 at 5:25 pm

    @Ella in New Mexico:

    Praise be, our beautiful New Mexico is still not crazy-land

    Indeed, and there are good people working to keep the NM state senate and retake the house. The Democratic Unity tour started in Shiprock, moved to Taos, Santa Fe, and then Albuquerque. I think they’re having an ice cream social in Las Cruces today. Which is fitting, since today apparently is National Ice Cream Day, a holiday I can wholeheartedly support.

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